NAVI's Esports World Cup dream is cut short
It’s all over for the elimination phase of the Esports World Cup as Natus Vincere fail to bring it together when it counts.
As the youngest Dota 2 roster in the Esports World Cup 2025, there were many expecting Natus Vincere to do extremely well. Once they beat Xtreme Gaming with some unorthodox drafting, the team had a chance to break Team Spirit. Unfortunately, this did not occur, but a second-place seeding was just as great for the young squad. With the second round of the elimination phase, they were set to face Team Falcons in hopes of advancing to the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the team’s first major tournament under the main NAVI banner did not progress as planned.
NAVI crash and burn, while Falcons soar
Similar to every single elimination phase series, Falcons required only two of the possible three games to claim their victory. The series was extremely one-sided, with NAVI never managing to get themselves off the ground. On the opposite side, Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak became an almost unkillable beast over the two games. With 30 kills under his belt and barely over an hour played, Malr1ne’s carries destroyed NAVI’s hopes of a playoffs spot.
With barely any response and unable to reach double-digits in either game, NAVI suffered a massive loss, which would see them leave the EWC 2025 in the bottom half of the standings. Having finished third in their group, with some poor results, Falcons managed to be the only team to survive both rounds of the elimination phase.
The victory makes Falcons the final team to reach the playoff stage at the EWC 2025. They join the rest of the squads in the top 8, as they all go in search of glory. The list of the top 8 teams is:
- Team Liquid
- BetBoom Team
- Team Falcons
- PARIVISION
- Gaimin Gladiators
- Tundra Esports
- Team Spirit
- Aurora Gaming
The teams now have a two-day break before the playoffs kick off. This is just enough time to re-strategise for their next matches, with only a single series loss now standing in the way of these teams and elimination.
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